03 December

December 3 1967 – Christiaan Barnard Performs the First Successful Human-to-Human Heart TransplantRate this post Just two months after making the first successful kidney transplant in South Africa, cardiologist Christiaan Barnard did the unthinkable: at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, the surgeon successfully moved the heart from one human being to another on December 3, 1967. For the first time in history, a person lived without the heart they were born with. Barnard did much of his training at Groote Schuur, spending five years there before a 24-month fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Minnesota. Connected with advanced techniques and encouraged to experiment, Barnard gained valuable experience […]